Scottish cycling and racing, past and present

Scottish Cyclist: Andy Fenn

In October I gave a quick rundown of the Scottish Men’s Commonwealth cycling team and there were one or two names I was not familiar with. One of those was Andy Fenn. So time for a bit of Google journalism…

He’s young, born in 1990, and although it’s dangerous to trust Wikipedia I have no reason not to believe he was born in Hertfordshire and now lives in Kent. He must qualify for Scotland via parentage. As with riders like David Millar and footballlers like Bob Wilson, we’ll have him!

He’s been on the British Cycling Academy Programme since the age of 16 with names like Alex Dowsett, Tim Kennaugh and Luke Rowe. He has been a good rider for a while now- his wikipedia page lists a series of wins on the track at U16 and Junior level.

One result stands out though- 1st place in the 2008 Junior Paris-Roubaix. He has did not let this out of proportion though , which can be seen from a very down-to-earth interview with Cycling Weekly. It’s the sort of headline-grabbing result that press and fans latch onto and use to raise expectations, which doesn’t help the rider. He did beat Peter Sagan, though, a rider who got a lot of press in early 2010 for stage wins in Paris–Nice and the Tour of California.

Lots of photos of Andy Fenn can be found in google image search, mostly linking to BC race reports, showing his performances in the National Championships. In 2009 he rode an aggressive race but lost out to Pete Kennaugh for the title, finishing 12th overall. But in 2010 he went one better and took the U23 British Road race championship.

Today Craig Hardie drew my attention to An Post’s new signings for 2011. Exciting times ahead as Andy steps up from British Cycling ‘s U23 Academy 100% ME team to a fully pro team.